Weaving a Colorful Tradition with the May Pole Assembly

Taylor Gymnasium was bopping with lively tunes and swirling with weaves of colorful ribbons as second-grade students celebrated the arrival of the spring season with the annual May Pole Assembly. The occasion was made additionally poignant as this will be physical education teacher and May Pole weaver-extraordinaire Mark McEachern's final turn at the event as he is retiring after 39 years at the end of the school year. To date, Mr. McEachern has led 35 such assemblies.

 

Dressed in their spring best, the students began the morning performance with choreographed dances to the tunes of Patty Cake Polka and Simon Says under the guidance of Mr. McEachern and physical education teacher Kiersten Goode. At the heart of the performance was the May Pole dance. Gathering around the standing pole, which was decorated with a crown of flowers at the top, each student picked up a colored ribbon and began to move around the pole.

 

As Mr. McEachern kept the movement count to help the students, the ribbons intertwined around the pole until the pieces became too short to maneuver. The students dressed the pole with an impressive 140 wraps, which is the most weaves since the inception of the May Pole Assembly back in the early 1970s. The performance concluded with students inviting their parents down to the floor for a final dance.